Another voice to add how awesome Lyle’s is by itself off a spoon and in buttercream—anywhwere you’d use corn syrup, for sure, and in place of honey if you want a little different flavor. I’m looking forward to making caramels with it this winter.

Here is my contribution to the pie bake off. This is Marionberry Turnover from PP&B. It is not a pie shaped, but it used the cream cheese pie crust. The book gives option to use apples, cherries, and a variety of berries but didn’t list Marionberry so I thought I’d experiment. I ended up using a bit too much sugar so this is a little sweet for my taste, but it’s still good. I made it on Saturday and we ate more than half of them already .

I followed Rose’s suggestion of rolling a piece of dough one by one - to make each turnover. It was a bit challenging to roll it out in the beginning, I always ended up rolling the middle part too thin - and the dough breaks a bit when I spooned in the marionberry. So there were several turnover that were not picture worthy . By the end I ended up rolling the dough a bit thicker, just to be safe.

I really like Marionberry. For those of you who haven’t tried, it is really worth spending the $4 for a 10 oz bag. We had a couple of spoon of leftover filling and we ate it with gusto - I even wanted to lick the bowl!

Jenn, those are really pretty. That golden brown bubbliness of the crust in the close-up is just soooooo appetizing!!! This is a great idea, too, as a pie alternative—especially to crust fans—as they’re like individual pie servings!!!

Here’s the Pecan Pie from the Pie/Pastry Bible, it’s one of my favorites. Even though I’m usually a not-too-sweet person, I like this pie best without the chocolate lace topping. Instead, I sneak in a little bourbon, substituting a teaspoon for a little of the cream.

I tried to show with the second pic how this pie is low-profile, not too much of the sweet filling. And making it with Lyle’s is super-delicious, this is definitely a dangerous one to have around the house!

Julie, that pie is to die for! OMG!! It is gorgeous! I so want to make that for Thanksgiving.

MJ, thank you- and by all means make it for Thanksgiving, it’s an easy pie once you have the blind baked crust ready (and you can do that a day or two before, just store it well-covered at room temp, not in the fridge or freezer).

Jenn, those look amazing! I haven’t made the turnover yet, so happy to see your version and hear your rolling tips. I remember you also liked the Marionberry shortcake, you’ve convinced me to try them soon!

Here’s a slightly deconstructed version of Rose’s Apple Tarte Tatin. The deconstruction was only that I had a blind baked flaky cream cheese pie crust left over from another project, so I made the apples in the pan stovetop instead of baking it upsidedown in the oven. Every year when I make one of Rose’s apple pies, I think it must be the best I’ve ever had, and this one was no exception. The apples are an heirloom variety from the 1600s, Calville Blanc d’Hiver, which is supposed to be perfect for a Tatin, so I couldn’t resist trying them when our local coop had them. They are quite different from an American Golden Delicious or Granny Smith, they’re very dense/fine grained and almost creamy-tasting, with a tinge of pear. They also don’t brown when cut like American apples (you can see they look pale for a Tatin) and seem a little less juicy.

I made a lemon meringue pie and apple pie this month. They aren’t very pretty, but they tasted pretty darn good!! I haven’t made a pie in oh about 15 years, and I have never made my own pie dough. I used Rose’s flaky cream cheese pie dough recipe. This pie plate is enormous and I didn’t make enough dough so that it fluted nicely around the edges.
I also didn’t make enough apple filling for the apple pie because you can see that there is a space between upper crust and the pie filling. I realized this after the fact. So I knew to make more filling for the lemon meringue. But I think I will go out and get a regular size pan when I make my next pie so I don’t have to worry about how much I need to increase the recipe.

Julie, is that my piece? Can I have a little bit bigger one? OMG! You guys are killing me with these beautiful pies! Julie, you did such a nice job arranging them, even after-the-cooking-fact! Very awesome to be able to get these heirloom fruits, too!

Julie - apple pie is still my favorite pie. I love the tartness of it. Yours looks so good!!! The apple slices are so even and you decorated them so nicely. I wouldn’t have thought that you cook the apples separately.

The heirloom apples sounds really good. I’ve never heard of it.

Anne - I’m gonna have to wrestle you for a piece .

Anne in NC - 25 October 2010 03:11 PM

OMG! You guys are killing me with these beautiful pies!

This means that you gotta go make yourself a pie soon. C’mon, October is not over yet!

MJ, thankyou- and by all means make it for Thanksgiving, it’s an easy pie once you have the blind baked crust ready (and you can do that a day or two before, just store it well-covered at room temp, not in the fridge or freezer).

Do you mean Rose’s roll-the-butter-into-flakes-in-a-ziploc method? No, but only because I became comfortable with a slightly different method before getting the P&PB;. A couple of years ago, my Father and I baked apple pies side-by-side, he made the cream cheese crust in the bag and I made it by rolling and layering loose butter flakes. The two crusts were indistringuishable, so I think either will work. I’ve also had success with Rose’s food processor instructions in the PPB.

Jenn, I was so happy to find these heirloom apples, it’s the first year my coop has had them. There are a few other varieties, I have my eye on one to try with quince but I have one other project to get done first, a Halloween cake.

Thanks a lot everyone!
My baking inventory is just about to be nudged along after reading all the reviews about the pie crust bag.
Far more in favour than against and those that had problems don’t seem to have chilled their pastry sufficiently IMHO.
Are there any other suggestions of ‘stuff’ I really ‘need’ like rolling pin rings?
Just want to check with committed pie makers as I will have to get them shipped to Aus (no, I can’t seem to find them here) and as shipping is pricey, I may as well make it worth my while.
Any recommendations for suppliers apart from those mentioned, preferably with some one who will ship overseas?
Some don’t like to do this sadly.
It is the first time in years that the Aussie dollar has been at parity and I can indulge in some goodies witn no guilt!
I remember the days of travelling there at 46 Aussie cents to the US dollar…would like to add more support to the economy.